Davenport, MI. – After having nearly two weeks off since their last game, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (0-2, 0-1) traveled to Davenport, Michigan to open the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) schedule. They would draw Davenport in their opening game and, despite an early lead, fell 17-7 to start the conference slate. Wheeling was able to score five of their seven goals in the first half, but were unable to close things out and get their first win of the season.
Early on, the Cardinals would take the lead just two minutes into the game. After a Davenport turnover, Owen Worley would bring the ball into the offensive end for the Cardinals and ended up taking it all the way to the net. The defender sent a shot past the Panther goalie and the Cardinals were staked to a 1-0 advantage. Davenport quickly tied things up on the next possession after winning the face-off. Davenport's Luke Eichbaucher would score the first Panther goal and tied things up at the 12:09 mark of the quarter. Another face-off win would give Davenport their first lead of the day, as they once again took the ball to the net, and it was the Cardinal's turn to answer. It would come two minutes later after a Christopher Burlingame save set up a Wheeling clear. Jack Rowe would bring the ball up the field and connected with Zach Bridenbaker to tie the game at 2-2 with 9:03 to go in the quarter.
Both defenses would hold strong over the next four minutes, with the score remaining tied at 2-2 until the 5:50 mark. Wheeling was on the attack, Wheeling was on the attack, and Andrew Turner sent a shot on net. It would be saved by the Davenport Goalie, but Rowe was there to pick up the ground ball. He would take the opportunity and fired the ball into the back of the net to put Wheeling back on top 3-2. However, Davenport found the net two more times before the quarter was out, taking a 4-3 lead 15 minutes in. The Panthers kept their run going into the second quarter, scoring their third unanswered goal before Wheeling got back on the board. Wheeling got a blocked shot on the defensive end and cleared the ball into the offensive zone. Finn Wotton would take the ball to the net, and fired past the goalie the make it a 5-4 game with 13:30 remaining before the half.
Davenport would increase their lead to 6-4 just over three minutes later, but it was Wheeling's turn to respond with a quick-strike goal. Domenico Cataldo picked up a face-off win and Wheeling fired off back-to-back shots. It was the second of those shots that found the back of the net, with Rowe scoring his second goal of the day to make it a 6-5 game. Both defenses would tighten over the final nine minutes of the half, and the game would head to halftime with the score holding at 6-5 in favor of Davenport. The Panthers made some halftime adjustments, scoring the first two goals of the second half to make it an 8-5 Davenport lead. Rowe would finish out the hat trick with 8:31 to go in the third quarter, concerting a Davenport turnover into his third goal of the night, bringing the score to 8-6.However, that is as close as the Cardinals would get, as Davenport went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter, and took a 14-6 lead into the final 15 minutes.
They would extend their run to 7-0 heading into the fourth quarter, before the offense got the answer to break the run. It came at the 6:02 mark, after Riley Lincoln caused a turnover to get the ball back to the Caridnals. They finished a successful clear and it's as once again Wotton bringing the ball up the field. He would take it coast-to-coast for the second time on the day and they made the score 15-7. It was Wotton's first career multi-goal effort, and rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals. Davenport would end up racking on two more goals before the night came to an end, including one in the final minute of the game, as they went on to win by the final score of 17-7. The Cardinals were able to hand with Davenport throughout the early portion of the game, but a late flurry from the Panthers was enough to sink the Cardinals.
Leading the way for Wheeling was Jack Rowe, who finished with his second multi-goal game of the season. He would lead the team with three goals and one assist, to finish the night with four points. He took eight shots and our four of those on goal to round out a big offensive night. The other multi-goal scorer for the Cardinals was Finn Wotton, who put two in the back of the net for his first career multi-goal game of the season. Zach Bridenbaker and Owen Worley would account for the final two goals, rounding out a seven goal effort for the Cardinals. Christopher Burlingame would get the start in net for Wheeling, making 18 saves on 35 shots faced on the day, finishing with a .514 save percentage.
The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, March 7th, when they take on Holy Family at the US Lacrosse Complex, with opening face-off at 6 PM.
